Urban mapping for the web
GEOG 40323
February 6, 2018
Issues with urban mapping
- Data acquisition
- Volume of data
- Styling - especially at multiple zoom levels
Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team
- Network of volunteers that map crisis zones in under-mapped areas
- More information: https://hotosm.org/
OpenStreetMap data
- Entire world available as a 47GB (compressed) XML file
- What if you don’t want to set up the data yourself?
Mapbox
- DC-based startup on the cutting edge of geospatial development
- Best known for products that allow users to generate tiled maps for the web: TileMill (c. 2011), Mapbox Studio Classic (c. 2014), and now Mapbox Studio
Tiled mapping
- To speed browsing, web maps often display map services as “tiles”
- Tiles are defined by their zoom level and coordinates
How tiled mapping systems work

Innovations in tiled mapping
- The old way: raster tiles, or tessellations of PNG images that render based on the user’s zoom level and coordinates
- The new way: vector tiles, which contain vector data rather than pre-rendered images
- This means that we can style the data in the tiles!
Vector tile example: Educational Attainment in America
Mapbox Studio
- Web-based platform for generating custom vector tiles
- Gives you access to the OpenStreetMap dataset (!) and allows you to upload your own data
- Let’s check it out! https://www.mapbox.com/studio